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F. W. MEEGAN,

SEAL LOCK.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 24. 1917.

Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

' a lA/l/E/VTOR b MW W TT/VEY Tun CQLUMBIA FLANOORAPH 120., WASHINGTON, n. c.

F. W. MEEGAN.

SEAL LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, i917.

1,317,805. Patented Oct. 7,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

"* a v m INVENTOR Tm: cu'nmn vuuuumpn caE, vinsummounpc.

r BEIGE.

FRANK w. MEEGAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SEAL-LOCK.

To all whom itm'ag concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. MEEGAN, a citizen of the United States, and residing 1n the borough of Manhattan of the city of New York, county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks, of which the follow-ing'is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention has-relation to fastenings for doors, boxes, drawers, bags, etc, in the use of which reliance is placed rather upon such as bags, baskets and boxes, while in transitor'i'n storage. Freight cars and receptacle's of the character referred to might be brokeninto-or'broken'open and the purpose of the fastening devices is therefore to prevent accidental opening and to prevent deliberate opening without disclosing immediately the fact of opening".

The present invention has for its object to provide an improved fastening of the general character referred to which cannot betamper'ed with so as'to permitopening without destruction of the seal, will make-it possible" touse seals which can be placed without" the use'of any tool orapplianc'e' and will also-make easy the keeping of a recordto show when and by what authorized personthe fasteningis disengaged; In the improved fastening the movement of a suitable handle-or operatingmember to release the bolt or other specific fastening,'is' made to rupture a sealwhich is easily placed in position but can'not'be removed without efiective movementof the operating handle or releasin'g" device. hereinas embodied in a seal lock adapted foruse -0n=a freight car door, but it willbe understoodthatit is capable of application to many other specific uses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

The invention is illustrated Patented- O car, 1919;

Application filed March 24, 1917. Serial No. 157,153.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in'front'eilevation show 7 .ing the improved seal-lock applied. to the door of a freight car, a portion of the door and ofthe adjacent wall of the car being shown.

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section on the plane indicated by the broken line 2-2 of Fig; 1. I p

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 aredetail views. in sec: tion respectively on the plalne's'of se'ctiori in dicated' by the broken lines 3 3, 44, 5'5

and 66 of Fig. 21 Fig. 7 is" a detail view in' elevationof the bolt removed from the frame.

Figs. 8 and '9" are respectively an edge view and a front view of the'seal" shown in Fiig. l

The sen-100k illustrated in the damage as an embodiment of the invention comprlses a frame, a bolt," a detent'; and a bolt releasing lever or handle. The frame a is' adapted to'be secured to the 'vv'all 6" of" a" freight car and to support theotherlpaft s of the fastening as well asthe's'ealf. It is'c'on veniently secured to thecar Wall 5 three bolts 6', b and 6 The head 'b of'ttheupe' permost bolt 6 projecting be'yondth front surface of the base a, formsastopto'liniit the upward'movement of the bolthereina'ft er' referred to. Thebo'lt 6 inserted from-the;-

inner side of the ear wall, receivesits nutb through the frame and the nut is covered by the bolt so that it becomesimpossible to re move the fastening from the wall whe'ii the parts have been ass'ein'hled, as will be here:

inafter explained. Integral with the base: plate a isa' box-like casingcoiiipri'singfin'rr perforate side walls'er/ a rrom wau a with a VGI'tlCLl groove a 1n its; upper phrtion; and- 1n1ts lower'po'rtron a large 'openmfg (1 with" flanged seal-retaining grooves a at its sides and'bottom apartitioiiwall a with a slotted, opening a in, its upper portio and an opening a in itslower portion, in-line' with the bolt 6 a top plate a wimabna guiding opening a and-a bottom plate a with a bolt-guidingopeniiig e The top plate a is preferably rounded; l as shows 2 by dotted lines in" Fi r, and the" panes a near the base-plate a, dips 'towardthe base-'- plate, all for the purpose of preventing'ih coiiperation with the hood carried by" the bolt, as hereinafterde'scri'bed, the"ingr'ess "of water, even if thefastening be eXposedto-a driving rain. Within the casing, preferably integral with the base-plate, is a" retainer a for the detent hereinafter referred to. Below, the casing and integral withthe baseplate a is a projecting plate a adapted to receive the usual hasp 0, secured to the car door 0, as indicated by dotted lines in 'FigS. 1; and 2,the ,.plate3 having an opening e to receive the lower end of thebolt hereinafter referred to, and having also a notch a to receive the lower end of'the releasing leyer or operating handle. g

The belt. Z is preferably formed as shown in Fig. 7,',l 1av1nga cylindrical lower portion cli to enter the projecting plated outside of the hasp c'and thereby retain the same in position; a forked or slotted upper portion 5Z the two legs of which are separatedby a vertical, central slot 6Z andLa hood (Z with a curved top 655, dipped rearwardly as shown at d fin .2, depending srdes and an nternal rib (6 to register with the groove a in the casing, The two legs 6Z2 are notched'as shown at (i for cooperation that the detent cannot be lifted. The detent is wide enough to engage both of thenotched legs d of the bolt, which cannot be raised until the'engaging member of the detent is thrust rearwardly, intoithe position shown by dotted lines .in Fig. 2-, so as to, clear the notched portions of the bolt. The bolt has an offset portion cZQjust above the cylindrical portion cl, so as to prevent the introduction'of any instrument through thehole a in .he bottoin'plate a .for the purpose of tampering with the detent. I

The bolt-releasing device or operatinghandle is arranged to cooperate directly with the detent c anddisengage it from the bolt. It preferably comprises a lever f which is pivoted in'the casing upon the pin ff which is supported in ears (1 onthe partition plate a It is inserted through an opening formed in oneof the side walls a -of the easing and may be secured in place by any convenient means. Its outer end is covered by one oftheside walls of the hood clit and it is therefore inaccessible when the bolt is down.

The, hub f of the lever is enlarged, slightly so as to make it impossible tointroduce even a thin instrument, when the lever is'thrown to a horizontal position, as shown .by dotted lines Fig. 2, torlthe purpose of holding back the engaging .m-ember of the detent.

When the bolt is down and the seal is in place the narrow crevices at the sides of the hub of the lever are inaccessible. The uper part f of the releasing lever is arranged to through opening (i of the partition wall (4 and through the slot d of the bolt, when the lever is swung to a hori zontal position, as shown in Fig. 2', against the-engaging member'of the detent e and to push it out of engagement with which can then be raised.

The seal 9 is a thimflat plate of any suitable material, such as cardboard or frangible metal, which can be slipped into the.

flanged grooves a? which'constitute the seal holder. and are inclined outwardly at the the bolt,

top, as clearly shown inFig. 2. The outer surface of the seal, iexposed between the flanges of the holder, may receive identifying letters and a serial number, and if formed of metal its upper edge may be turned over as at g.. H

In assembllng and using the improved seal-lock, the base-plate a isfirst secured to the wall by the bolts 6' and b the nut,

b of the latter beingplaoedandturned home through the opening a in the parti tion wall a of the caslng. Then the detent e is forced into place through the opening a in the topof the casing. Then the looking bolt 65 isidropped into place and is pushed downv far enough to permit the bolt to be put into place. its head 6*, asalready explained, then constituting a stop to limit the upward movement of the, locking bolt 'Z,'throughco ntact with the top, d of the If the bolt is dropped down-far,

hoodenough to permit the detent to engage, the notches; therein, the operating handle or re leasing device 7 is swung to a horizontal position so as to disengage the detent from the locking bolt, and the locking bolt is then raised tothe position shown by dotted lines in Flg. 2 and the operating handleis permitted to return to. its vertical position. Thenv the seal 9 1S dropped into the holder prepared'to receive it and the hasp shaving been swung over theprojecting plate a, the locking bolt is permittedto drop oris pushed downto its lowest position shown infull, lines in Fig. 2, its upward movement being.

then prevented by engagement of the detent,

with the notches. The fastening. device is now locked and under seal. It is impossible to raise the lockingbolt without operation. of the releasing lever f and any effective movement of that lever will rupture the seal g. In practice the seals will be supplied only to train conductors or other proper custodiansv and records will be kept ofthe serial numbers ,of-theiseals delivered to each such conductor or: custodian, so that it can;

always bedetermined in whose custody or care the car or other receptaclewas when the seal was broken and if the ear or other receptacle isopened by any authorized per- 1 son and rescaled, it can be determined from the records by whom it was so opened and rescaled. It is possible of course, to smash the fastening at any time, but it is so constructed, as already explained, that it can neither be removed nor tampered With, even through collusion of different persons, when it has once been sealed, so that the locking bolt cannot be Withdrawn Without rupture of the seal. The skirt of the hood 0%, carried by the locking bolt, is extended downwardly far enough, as Will be observed, to lap the top of the casing, even When the bolt is in its highest position, so that it is impossible to introduce through the top of the casing any instrument for the purpose of tampering With the detent.

It Will be understood that details of con struction and arrangement of the improved seal-lock will be 'varied to suit different conditions of use and that the invention is not limited to the construction and arrangement of parts shown and described herein.

I claim as my invention:

1. A seal-lock comprising a frame having a base-plate and a casing, and a sliding looking bolt having at one end a hood -to cover the corresponding end of the casing, the upper and lower end plates of the casing having openings to receive and guide the bolt, and a bolt having an ofi'set to overlap the edge of the opening through one of said plates.

2. A seal-lock comprising a frame having a base-plate and a casing, a sliding locking bolt, a detent for the bolt Within thecasing, and bolt-releasing means mounted in the casing, the outer Wall of the casing having an opening to permit movement of the boltreleasing means, and having grooves at the sides of said opening to receive a flat seal, outside of said opening, and the locking bolt having a hood to cover the open ends of the grooves.

3. A seal-lock comprising a frame having a base-plate and a casing, a sliding, longitudinally slotted bolt having the portions at opposite sides of the slot notched on their rear faces, a detent mounted in the casing and normally engaging the notches of the bolt, and a releasing lever pivotally mounted in the casing and having one end adapted to swing through the slot of the bolt to engage the detent and disengage it from the bolt.

This specification signed this 22 day of March A. D. 1917.

FRANK W. MEEGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

